Sep 8, 2009 3:59 PM

Hey how goes it; next year by the end of April looking to run a 50 mile ultra race. At the end of the year goal is to run the distance of a 50k. That is about fourteen weeks away in conjunction with a local marathon. Goal is mostly to complete it and finish it before 4 hours and thirty minutes. Right now working to allow myself to make it to 42 miles this week and completed an 18 mile run on Monday. Schedule for the next couple of weeks looks loosely like this:

You did not ask any questions. You just made a statement. Your title makes it seem that you believe your training may be too much and cause over-training. First everyone is different. Some people can handle working out a lot, 10-20 hours/week. While for others 5 hours/week may be too much. A lot of outside influences (work, family, etc) can negatively impact your training. Second you do not say much about your background. Your previous experience will most likely determine how much you can handle. 4:30 for a 50k may be aggressive depending on your ability. Third you do not mention your race, is it a road or trail race with lots of climb? Some trails have lots of climb and 4:30 may not be attainable except by the elites.

IMO the schedule you posted seems reasonable. But it would not be reasonable for a beginner with no running background.

BTW, where did you get this training schedule? It is geared more towards triathletes.

Mostly for three years have been averaging 30 mile weeks. With longest runs completed would be 15 to 16 miles usually. Thrown into the mix is usually some cross training and swimming. Agree we all react different. One thing worry about is burning out heard cutting back miles every so week is good. Trying to do three weeks and drop the miles down by two or four. Thanks for the input.

I mean if I could get away with it i would train 15-20hrs/week, but family and job prevent this(maybe that's a good thing). Most of my running is on treadmill, because it's too dam hot outside. I'm putting in 60-80miles/week, never run a marathon and thinking of doing one in Nov. It would be nice to BQ with this relatively flat marathon in Fla. I frequently get gluteal and leg pains, but I just run through it with ibuprofen. Anyway are there some more obvious signs of overtraining other than pure exhaustion?

I just got into ultra running so am by no means an expert. I ran a 50K in June, a 6 hour race in July, and am training for a 50 miler in November. I also ran 5 marathons in the previous few months. I burned out in a big way at the end of August. My runs were slow and my body was beat to he!! so I took a week off and it worked wonders. My training program can be found here. I got the advice from a few sources to do back to back long runs. It seems as though your weekly mileage is similar to mine, but structured differently. I also notice that a few times you have back to back recovery/cross training days- would it make more sense to break it up? I guess what I'm suggesting is that the content is fine but re-organizing it may result in more effective training. However, as I said, I'm a newbie and also learning, so take other people's advice before you take mine Good luck!

Thanks for the links. Unfortuantely my life as a surgery resident and now anesthesia resident put me in an irritable and stressed out mood at baseline. I do notice however, if I do not get enough calories I will even get more irritiable (if that's possible-the ICU nurses would tend to agree). I cannot say enough for you ultramarathoners...Hopefully some day when i have more control over my life I will be able to complete a longer race...

zebUSCG - That schedule will be hard for you if you usually run 30mpw and your long run is up to 16 miles. The first week already has two longish runs: 18 and 14. Also the plan peaks at 50 mpw which would be a big jump for you. Cut back weeks are used to allow your body to recover from previous weeks of hard workouts or increases in mileage; cut back weeks are not intended to minimize burn out.

I am purely a marathoner that will occasionally do an ultra. There are elements of that program that I do not like: too much XT (from a runner's perspective), taper is too long (4 weeks), last week is too low in volume. Mostly minor quibbles. IMO, most (non-beginner) marathon training programs will get you through 50k.

Personally I take time off between races to avoid over training and burn out. Also I have no problems skipping workouts if I am too busy or tired.

DCtoPgh - I took a look at the Annapolis Striders Plan you are following. I am fairly surprised by the low weekly mileage and lack of length on the longest long run (26.2 miles). I would not feel prepared to tackle 50 miles with that plan. I like this plan by Hal Higdon better, but it requires more running: http://www.halhigdon.com/ultramarathon/schedule.html

I will also have to admit begin an ultra novice. I have only done one 50k ultra (with over 5k climb) and most recently ran 33 miles (did a marathon race then added 7 miles to the end). I do run a lot of marathons and lately my weekly mileage is around 70mpw.

Good info, James, thanks for sharing. I wish I would have found this earlier, I love Hal Higdon plans. In all honesty, I'm a Ph.D. student in an incredibly competitive program so I don't think I'd have time or energy (speaking about burnout: it's not just running-related!) to tackle 50% more mileage. Sure I'd be better trained, but I'd never make it to the starting line. I've upped my longest run from 26.2 to 31 and plan to run before/after my marathons. May go longer than that. My understanding is that physiologically the Sat/Sun back to back runs in either program serve as one really long run (i.e. 20 on Sat and 10 on Sun roughly equal a 30 miler).